I must admit that I’ve caught the Nintendo Wiifit Fever! We were one of the lucky ones to get a Wii Console on the day of the release and have been enjoying (and suffering in pain) over the physical play of the wii games.
Being that the Wii Console practically fell into our laps easy, I didn’t realize there was such difficulty in obtaining a Wii Game Unit until my nieces mentioned how they kept on looking but it was always sold out at the stores and online, stores would only get a measly 5-10 units each time and would sell out right away. Had I’d been paying attention, I would have scope out the stores for them but as it goes, when things come easy, one doesn’t truly appreciate the joys of having it. 
…and the trials of obtaining it by others.
Finally last week, my brother managed to secure a copy of the Nintendo Wii for his family and now I am happy to report that they too have been experiencing the joys of arm soreness from playing Wii Sports, that boxing in game and training will get you EVERY TIME! I know because I was playing that and other games in Wii Sports for 2.5hrs last night and man, do my arms hurt. :blink:
I had overdone it on the Gazelle for two days and my legs are sore, now my arms are too but the wii is so fun! That’s the thing about using a device like wii to incorporate exercise movement into your time. Before you know it, you’d been playing for hours and don’t realize just how much you’ve worked until the next day when your arm muscles are all achy!
So last week, my sister in law was telling about how she wanted to get the Wiifit when it comes out and that’s when I started getting intrigued with the whole idea of using the Wii for more full body exercising. I never thought it’d be possible, well, I never really gave it a thought period!
Yesterday I set out on a fact finding mission at my local stores that I thought would be selling the Wiifit. Here’s what I did:
I first glanced through the sunday paper advertisement and there were several places with mentions of the release of Wiifit, places like Bestbuy, Circuit City, TOYS R US, Wal-mart, Target, etc. Most places had been taking Pre-orders of the Wiifit for weeks and months prior but since I had just gotten intrigued by it, all the places I had called had stopped taking pre-orders, even online retailers too.
It seems that every place that were doing pre-orders were all “sold out”. THIS DOES NOT MEAN THAT THE WIIFIT IS ALREADY SOLD OUT before it’s even in the stores! Some stores like Game Stop I visited yesterday had said that their corporate were allowed so many units and each Game Stop store has a specific quantity which were all pre-sold with no extra copies for the regular folk like me who are looking to just walk in and snag a copy.
The interesting thing I found out is that the three main big chain retailers that will be stocking the Wiifit are all handling Wednesday differently but they are all opened for business at the same 10am. From my little trip, I found that Circuit City didn’t offer any kind of Pre-Sale and in their store, there was a big sign for the Wiifit and how that they will be handing out ticket vouchers for purchase at 9:45am, 15 minutes prior to store opening for those who are standing in line to buy this game.
Bestbuy’s customer rep told me that they will most likely do the same as they did with the Wii Console and that’s to also hand out vouchers for purchase just prior to store opening. He said that their store isn’t really a big pre-sale store and only had about 20 pre-sale orders! Also mentioned when asked approximately how many units they may have and the guy said, we get a lot, maybe about 50! How accurate this info is, is anyone’s guess at this point.
The funny thing is that’s actually how we got our Wii unit. My brother’s friend Marvin had cousins who had been camping out at bestbuy the night before and came 9am, got hungry so they called up Marvin to bring them some breakfast. Marvin got there just when they were handing out the voucher tickets and the employee there thought he was in line for a console so gave him a ticket. Marvin wasn’t looking to buy the Wii then so he called my brother up and said, hey I got a voucher for the Wii, do you want it? So my brother who was also undecided about getting the Wii at that time just said, sure, if I don’t like it, I can always sell it to someone. All those people camping out all night long and the Wii basically fell into my brother lap.
And this is also an interesting thing with perfect timing. In our town, the bestbuy and toys r us are in the same shopping center/mall. Even though I had already called toys r us days earlier to ask about pre-ordering the wii and was told that they stopped taking them but will have an extra “maybe” 10 units above their pre-orders for those “first come, first serve”, I decided on a whim to just swing in there and ask again. To my amazement, I walked into their electronic department and there were two ladies at the counter buying two Wii Consoles!!!! 
mg:
I have never til this day actually see it available at any store, not that I make a point of looking for them. So I stood there for a moment not believing my eyes, thinking I must be seeing things. I asked the guy if those are the actual Wii game unit and he said, “Yes it is, we just got a batch of units in just a little while ago and I was putting them up”.
Even after the two ladies left with their Wiis, there were about 5 units just sitting on the counter as the guy was hoisting them up to the top of the shelf behind the counter. WOW! What luck! So I text messaged my brother and said that I know we have a unit but I’m soooooo tempted to buy another one just because it’s super hard to come by and perhaps I could resell it to someone for a little profit to pay for another game or something. My brother said to go for it but I may have to hold it til Christmas time when the demand is higher.
They limited one per person/household but I think if I went in there with cash the next day to buy another unit (if there are even any left), then they wouldn’t really know unless it’s the same worker that recognizes me from buying one already. With tax it came out to be like $264, I was happy. This game unit is so hot and in demand that I wouldn’t lose money on reselling it, nothing else, I could just break even so good investment! It was like a much pleasant surprise to stumble upon it and I wasn’t even looking for the Wii, just on a fact finding mission on the Wiifit! Go to your local toys r us and see if they have any, you may luck out too!
The guy there also reiterated the same thing as the gal on the phone about the extra 10 or so units on wednesday so if I get there early, I may have a chance to get a copy.
I need two (one for me and one for my sister in law) and each store is limiting one copy per person so I will HAVE to hit at least another store. Actually I think I want to buy 3 copies so I could bundle a Wiifit with my new Wii Console. Last night I was already seeing Wiifit being Pre-sold on ebay! People doesn’t even have them in their hands and they are preselling their pre-ordered copy. TONS of people were bidding and I saw most of the bids ended up around $150-$170! This is on a game that isn’t even out yet and is retailed for $89.99! People, try your local stores first before dropping almost twice as much on ebay! I’m almost afraid to see what the bids will go up to if the Wiifit gets sold out of its first 1 million releases on that first day! :faint:
So those are the stores that are opened at 10am. Now another interesting thing I found out is that Target has in their sunday ad about the Wiifit and how in a circle said that it’s on sale Wednesday, May 21st at 8am! I went to Target last night to just make sure and indeed they are open for business every weekday at 8am, so target will be selling the Wiifit 2 hours before all the other stores I’ve mentioned are open. The guy there said they didn’t take pre-orders so it’s first come first serve again. There are two target stores in my town so I’m thinking I will hit one and then the other one across town to see if I can score! Being they are open earlier than other stores that most people would attempt to buy their game will be a slight advantage for me.
Also my brother pointed out that another advantage for me is that the game is sold on a weekday verses a weekend. I’m counting on folks going to their 9-5 jobs and not hitting the stores. If it would rain a bit tomorrow, that would increase my chances of getting my copies of Wiifit. My sister in law really wants this and now fears that she’ll have to wait a long time. I’m pretty confident that I’ll get at least 1 copy somewhere tomorrow and I’ll just give it to her. :hug: It’s just a matter of how many stores will I have to drive around to to find it.
Now onto Wal-mart. We recently had a new Super Walmart opened up that’s 24hrs! I’m curious whether they will allow sales at midnight or will wait til 6 or 7am to start selling it. I went to the “walmart zoo” because that place is always mobbed with people and the lines are super long, just to find out some info. Unfortunately, a lot of the older folks work in the electronic department and they had NO idea what I was talking about. They couldn’t tell me either way if they will sell it or wait til the morning. I may try to go to walmart after midnight tonight just to see, it’s like a minute away from my house and I’m a nightowl anyway! 
Armed with this new found knowledge, this is my Wiifit buying strategy for tomorrow:
1. At midnight tonight, I will go to the local super walmart and see if I can secure a copy of Wiifit. If not, I will go there at 7ish in the morning to try again.
2. Then I will go to the closest target store near me just before 8am and wait for their doors to open. I think my best chances will be at the target stores. I will try one and then head over across town to the other target store which incidentally is in the same shopping center as the bestbuy and toys r us and see if I score.
3. Here is where I’m torn on how I’d like to proceed. I could wait out the time or stand in line at either bestbuy or toys r us. 10 copies at toys r us are not very good odds. If bestbuy has about 30 above their pre-orders, then maybe I could get one but folks are notorious with lining up outside of bestbuy. Thank goodness it is a rainy day and night today, cold too so maybe it will keep people from waiting overnight.
4. But then my chances may be better at the circuit city across town the other way because they didn’t allow any pre-orders. There’s actually two circuit citys I could travel to but the farther one is out of the way and isn’t near other stores that may be selling this game.
5. Other stores I am planning on stopping by include another regular walmart, kmarts supposedly will have them too and there’s two of them in town. Also will check out sears at the mall, my brother said no one ever think to go to sears but they sell games and consoles and they open at up when the mall does at 9:30 so that’s half hour sooner than the three big chains. I think stores that specializes in game selling will most likely be a waste of time to visit.
I think when it comes down to it, my time is better spent early in neighboring stores, right after #1 and #2, I can hit about 4 stores in the general area pretty quickly. I’m not sure if stores like office depot or staples would sell it….I’ll have to see online first…and they don’t.
Also I’d like to mention that your local bulk buy membership places like Costco and Sam’s Club also sell wii games. I’ve seen Wii units at Costco before but it’s bundled with other games that you may not want for extra price. At our local Sam’s Club, there were some games, not a lot and the price difference was marginal by a few dollars on pricier games.
Anyway, that’s my Wiifit buying strategy for retail stores. I could have called every single one but sometimes it’s better to just go there and talk to someone who actually may have a clue and not be put on hold on the phone.
As for online, I’m not even sure if Amazon will have the units available at midnight on their site, I heard a lot of folks pre-ordered the Wiifit on Amazon months in advance so who knows if they will have any copies up for regular people who are perched there waiting for availability.
Happy Hunting tomorrow, I’m sooooooo excited! :clapping:
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